Brawny Put Snapchat Spectacles on Toddlers to Film an Adorably Messy Mother’s Day Ad

Strapping a GoPro to your dog is so 2015. These days, to get the best pint-size footage, you have to strap Snapchat Spectacles to your kid!

And that’s just what Cutwater did for its new Mother Day’s commercial for Brawny, which was shot from the point of view of children wearing the socially connected eyewear.

The San Francisco agency hired director and producer Karen X, enlisted four real families and shot in their homes over two days. The glasses have no playback function, so the creative team had to capture as many “happy accidents” as they could—all in 10-second bursts.

Indeed, we see mothers—from their kids’ point of view—cleaning up milk spills and fallen spaghetti, patching up knee scrapes, cuddling at nighttime and more. And it all happens within the spherical frenzy of the Spectacles viewing frame—a fisheye glimpse at the daily challenges of motherhood.

“The campaign was inspired not only from the ‘Stay Giant’ brand positioning, but also from role that women play in our lives and in society,” Chuck McBride, chief creative officer at Cutwater, tells Adweek.

“Motherhood in particular can be a challenging time, and we wanted to highlight the strength and resilience that women have during this period through the perspective of their children. ‘Once a mother, always a giant’ seemed like a simple way to articulate this point of view, while celebrating women for the strong and resilient people they are.”

The Spectacles footage really does nicely capture the craziness and energy of childhood, while keeping the camera on the moms.

“They relished the opportunity to misbehave,” Aaron Sanchez, Cutwater’s associate creative director, tells us. “For the younger kids, we used a sunglass strap to attach the Specs.”

Robbie Wiedie, content producer at Cutwater, says the team worked quickly to keep up with the kids as much as possible, reviewing the footage sparingly. “The Spectacles yielded lots of takes to use in our editing process,” he says. “Ultimately they helped us achieve a level of authenticity unrivaled by a traditional production.”

“In celebration of Mother’s Day this year, we wanted to honor the strength and resilience that mothers rely on to overcome their daily challenges,” says Gary Gastel, senior brand director at Brawny. “As a brand that has been an icon of strength, we felt Brawny could help bring attention to that unparalleled resilience. We partnered with Cutwater to bring our message to life using new technology that shows all the things that mothers do from the viewpoint of a child.”

CREDITS
Production Company: Karen X
Director: Karen X
Director of Photography: Benjamin Von Wong
Producer: Carlos G Martinez
Art Director: Emily Yau

Cutwater Credits
Chief Creative Officer – Chuck McBride
Associate Creative Director – Aaron Sanchez
Art Director – Rebecca Schefkind
Copywriter – Kristi Lira
Executive Producer – Michael Huntley
Content Producer – Robbie Wiedie
President, Principal – Christian Hughes
Group Account Director – Coleen Karkazis
Account Director – Greer Gonerka
Associate Director of Communications & Content Strategy – Richard Tubman

Brawny Credits
Gary Gastel – Senior Brand Director
Santiago Arboleda – Director, Brand Building Leader
Frances Morgan – Senior Brand Manager
Samantha Alexander – Associate Brand Manager
Melissa Kinard – Social Media Manager

Tim Nudd

@nudd

Tim Nudd is a former creative editor of Adweek.